==== ====For More Information Go Herehttp://tinyurl.com/7ry4pxo==== ====Hoodia Gordonii is a South African succulent plant of the family Apocynaceae. They areremarkable similar in appearance to cacti, although they are totally unrelated to them and growpredominantly in the region of Central Namibia in the south west of Africa, up to the southernregions of Angola. They are most commonly found in rocky ground and on the plains.There are several species of hoodia, some of them grown domestically, and it is Hoodia gordoniithat is used as an appetite suppressant in hoodia weight loss pills. Although the plant hashistorically found use in the treatment of infections and gastric problems, most interest is displayedin its use by the bushmen of the Kalahari Desert to suppress their appetite during long huntingtrips when food and water are scarce.The active ingredient was isolated in 1977, and given the name P57: the product is therefore oftenreferred to as Hoodia P57. It was patented by its discoverers, the CSIR (South African Council forScientific and Industrial Research) and a license granted to UK company Phytopram, who workedtogether with Pfizer to isolate the active ingredients and manufacture them synthetically. This wasfound to be very difficult, if not impossible, since any synthetic form of the extract failed to displayany hunger-suppressant properties.Finally, the rights to the main ingredient were released by Pfizer in 2002, thus indicating that it wasof no commercial benefit to them. The main problem they admitted with synthesizing P57 was notonly the difficulty in doing so, but also that there were side effects of the extract on the liver causedby other components that could not be removed. No synthetic form of hoodia is thereforeavailable, and only the natural plant is used in current Hoodia 57 preparations.The rights of the San Bushmen to the plant were recognized by the CSIR in 2002, and not only dothey receive a proportion of the profits of marketing hoodia, but also the plant is protected withwild-harvesting licenses provided to only certain individuals and companies. Due to the risingpopularity of the hoodia weight loss industry, the plant has been named as an endangered speciesin the wild.It is believed that the active ingredients are steroidal saponins that can fool the body into believingit is full. This theory is based upon the effect on appetite of glucose concentrations in the blood.Your appetite is controlled by the amount of unconverted glucose in your blood, and glycogen inthe liver. When you eat carbohydrates, they are digested and converted into glucose which isabsorbed into the bloodstream.Under normal conditions your blood glucose levels increase to a level where a signal fromhypothalamus stops you feeling hungry. Insulin is then secreted from the pancreas to prepare yourcells to use that glucose in the mitochondria to create energy by means of the Kreb's Cycle, or

Citric Acid Cycle as it is also known. This reduces the concentration of glucose in the blood, andonce it reaches a certain level the body begins to use its emergency energy supply, glycogen, thatis stored in the liver.A signal then informs the brain that more glucose is needed. You then feel hungry again, and thiscycle is repeated several times a day in a normally healthy person. This cycle is controlled bycertain hormones in the brain, specifically in the ventromedial center of the hypothalamus, where itis believed that the ATP (adenosine triphosphate) availability controls the release of the hormonesinvolved.ATP is the molecule of energy, and as the concentration of blood glucose and of glycogen drop,then the amount of ATP produced also drops and this is detected in the hypothalamus, whichreacts by releasing ghrelin. Increased leptin increases the feeling of satiety and ghrelin increasesthe feeling of hunger. Serotonin acts on the brain to increase the effect of leptin in thehypothalamus, and therefore make us feel less hungry, or more satiated.It is believed that hoodia gordonii, or the Hoodia P57 component of it, fools the brain into believingthat your blood glucose or glycogen levels have reached the point at which it should trigger asatiated response, so that you stop eating even though your ATP levels might be low. Thesteroidal saponins that it contains is believed to be ten thousand times more effective than glucosein stimulated the secretion of serotonin.Hoodia has also been found to contain a number of glycosides, including pregnane glycosides thatsome studies have indicated to help control appetite of the subjects tested. Most of these testshave been carried out on animals, although Hoodia weight loss preparations are offered in a formstandardized on both steroidal saponins and pregnane glycosides.Hoodia gordonii is becoming so popular as a weight loss product that its export is being monitoredby the South African government. It has become so endangered that, since 2005, only hoodiagrown on commercial farms is permitted an export license, and exporters must obtain a licensefrom the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES). Importers also require a permit from the US department of Agriculture, and a CITEScertificate is also needed to re-export the finished product.Because of this, more hoodia weight loss pills are being sold than there is hoodia gordonii toproduce them. It is not uncommon for cacti such as the prickly pear cactus from Mexico, to beused, or for low concentrations of hoodia to be bulked up with fillers. Neither of these is of any useas an appetite suppressant, the former having no active ingredients whatsoever and the lattercontaining only traces.If you are purchasing hoodia, therefore, be aware of this. Request sight of the CITES certificateand USDA permit, and also the analysis results by an authorized laboratory to confirm that theproduct is what it purports to be. Otherwise, there is some evidence that Hoodia gordonii can helpyou reduce weight, although to date there are only four recognized analytical laboratoriesregistered to analyze the active content of hoodia weight loss products.Finally, check for the analysis certificates. All Hoodia weight loss products should be analyzed byeach of three methods: Microscopy, High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) and